Another Try Version Iota
by YAqkawer
Summary: Othinus, Magic God, has crafted an uncountable number of worlds all with the express purpose of breaking Touma Kamijou; to cage Imagine Breaker in a broken vessel. There is perhaps one more method she could try. Based on the events of New Testament Volume 9. One-Shot.


**Disclamer: To Aru Majutsu no Index (or A Certain Magical Index) belongs to Kazuma Kamachi, the publisher, as well as any others who own the series in any form. I am not one of them. This work is strictly non-profit and is meant to be viewed for free.**

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A Glimpse: Another Try; Version Iota

A hero, resting in red; that was perhaps the most poetic description one could have given to the sight before her… that is if 'her' could have even possibly applied correctly. The Magic God Othinus stared down. At her feet was a trembling, twitching mass that had once been human. Its black, scorched… body, was missing large swathes of itself. The parts that were no longer there had been disintegrated just moments earlier. Still, it somehow found the strength to breathe… or should it be said, 'he' found the strength to breathe. Touma Kamijou held onto life, even as it had been ripped so violently apart from him only so many moments ago, so many times before. It was odd to the Magic God how this boy, who to her was not even worth even a fraction of an atom of breath, was still sane.

She quickly glanced at her surroundings. Once again, the battle had taken place at the boy's school. Even after so many times, this certain school's name had escaped her grasp, or perhaps she never even tried to learn it to begin with. The courtyard that their battle had taken place in… no it was not even worthy of the term battle. Slaughter; that was the term that best described what transpired, what does transpire. The courtyard was empty save for the stray piece of litter, along with themselves. Though more and more of it was dirtied with blood the longer she postponed, as the full moon was made to reveal. If there was a morning, it would have been quite the fiasco for blood of any kind to be seen here.

It was at that point that the boy's body gave way to death once more, the movements ceased and the life extinguished, or so it would have been, had a flash of white light not engulfed the world just the moment before. Was it the three thousandth and twenty third time? Or was it the twenty second? Perhaps she was off by a larger margin and it was in fact the four thousandth and three hundred twenty third? To her disappointment and annoyance, it still hadn't changed a thing… disappointment? Was she expecting something more? No matter; she was exhausting all possibilities. The flash of white seemed to give way to a world of white, but only through a trick of perception; as if someone took a single frame from a reel of film and stopped it there.

Each iteration she crafted to break him, each world she showed him, each time he was at the precipice of breaking, it only served to further annoy her when he brushed it off, or by some forsaken miracle, pass through the trial, ever stronger. Some, in fact in most of them, he didn't even get the chance to reach this point, where the two did 'battle'. Most of them, he 'died' from the world itself. Yet still, time, and time again, that inexhaustible will that seemed to define Touma in ways that simply confounded her managed to worm its way back from the depths to meet her and face her anew, though with results tired and old.

"I'm getting sick of this," she muttered in her breath at the lowest volume she could muster while still producing sounds a human could still hear. She was sick of him always finding a way out. She was sick of him overcoming all the ways she could think to break him. She was getting sick of trying to crush an insignificant human with the world. She even thought to crush him with himself, but like everything else, it ineffectually only served to further waste her time, and, to her complete bafflement, grow his confidence from what little he could remember of each episode. "Another try, then," she once again said only to herself. She still had to admit that she still hadn't explored all the ways to break his spirit or render Imagine Breaker a moot threat. A little bit of hope emerged. Perhaps this might be the last…

**Another Try; Version Iota**

"Bwah!" Touma shouted as he catapulted from sleep into an upright position. He hurriedly looked at his surroundings, desperatly trying to see what Othinus changed in this new world, what horrible ways she would try to use to break him this time… and so far the only thing he could see was the bathroom of his apartment. "What?" he stated flatly as the fight instinct in his brain from the fight or flight response began to wear off. His expression also began to fall flat from the seemingly mundane sight. It was for the most part still, though a strange crackling sound could be heard in the background that was barely audible thanks to the door having been shut.

He rubbed his eyes, partially from having just apparently woken up, and also from disbelief. The room was lit only by the sun that shown through the window, so it did not take long for his eyes to ready themselves for the day. As he reopened them, he looked around once more, only to find that nothing had changed, and that a grenade wasn't about to be set off in his vicinity any time soon, or at least he hoped not.

His mind began to sift through the possible changes, from the most absurd to the mundane. Perhaps everyone hates him again? No, Othinus wouldn't be that lazy, and as a Magic God, her imagination surely would have prevented any repetitions. Maybe instead of 10,000 or so sisters, it was 10,000 or so Indexs… no that one's out not just because it's stupid, but because it wouldn't serve a purpose other than to break his wallet, or his bite mark limit. How about making it so that he was a poor high-school student with no discernable future thanks to poor academic performance and little networking? Wait, isn't that his normal life?

He continued to sit there and think over and over what could have possibly changed until he suddenly started to violently scratch his own head with both hands out of frustration. Could it be that she's devised some truly evil, truly despicable, truly horrible inconceivable way to break him this time that even his imagination, subconsciously bolstered by the many other worlds he had been subjected to, couldn't possible conceive like some eldritch horror from beyond the abyss straight from Lovecraft's nightmares (or dreams)?

"Touma, breakfast is ready! Get out of the bathroom too. I'll need to use it soon." Or maybe instead she'll enter directly into his mind and speak to him as if she were his… room… mate…

"Huh!?" was Touma's only response. His face began to fall into a confused look… did Othinus, Magic God, one who destroyed his old world and replaced it anew a countless times over, just beckon him to breakfast? He didn't have much time to contemplate this fact, which he didn't want to believe as fact, as the door then slammed open.

"Hey, I really need to go, so could you get up now?" As the light from the rest of the apartment flooded in, Touma covered his eyes with his arms until they began to adjust to the abrupt change in luminosity. As they did, Touma managed to take a look at the… Magic God. What he saw betrayed all the expectations he had for Othinus. Instead of her… immodest regular attire, she was wearing the school uniform for his high-school, albeit with an apron on that had darkened spots on it that seemed to still be fresh and wet. Her giant witch's hat was gone, leaving her head barren save for the roots of her admittedly luxurious long, blonde hair. The only thing about her that seemed to remain the same was… well she herself, as she otherwise physically didn't look any different, and that she still wore her eye patch. Touma began thinking he might have already broken.

"Touma, I really, really need to go and wash up, so could you get out?" The tone with which she asked didn't feel rehearsed or fake. It instead felt tired, and familiar; it felt like he had heard it many times before. It was a trick. It had to be!

"What the hell is going on!?" That was the obvious thing to ask in his situation. It was completely understandable to feel completely out of it from seeing what was previously his enemy simply standing in front of him in an apron having made breakfast and really needing to go to the bathroom; his bathroom.

"What's going on is that breakfast is near ready, and I need to go, which means you need to get out." Othinus stating as such with the parameters of an innocent cohabitant was still not able to be fully registered in Touma's poor high-school mind. This seemed apparent to the… Magic God, as she then immediately walked over, and with an abnormal amount of strength, threw him and his bedding out. With one last exasperated call she said to the still dazed Touma, "Why do we have to go through this every time." She seemed to mutter under her breath as she closed the door, "It'd be easier if you just slept outside…" The door finally closed, albeit gently and Touma sat on the ground, blanket and pillows all strewn about. His nose caught the smell of the aforementioned breakfast.

"Well at least nothing's on fire…" He had to take small victories where he could get them.

**Another Try; Version Iota**

Breakfast, to Touma's understandable surprise, had been a very calming affair. Perhaps it was because for one thing, Index was actually nowhere to be seen. In fact nothing of note had spectacularly happened at all. He and Othinus quietly ate breakfast together after she had sorted out her morning business, and were now walking to school as if it were something the two of them did every day. Touma's mind was still wrapping its head around the sight of Othinus and himself walking casually through the streets of Academy City on their way to his high-school. No one seemed to notice or even care about who Othinus was. Just what was this version of the world supposed to do?

"You're rather quiet this time," Othinus opened. Her tone seemed to be part shades confused, annoyed, haughty, curious, and expecting. How her tone could have been that varied though only sent Touma into even deeper thought. "Well anyways, today's just a normal school day. The super sale will be immediately after school, so don't get into trouble again today, okay? I need help to carry all the groceries. Are you listening to me Touma? I'm telling you what the plan for today is." Touma's fixation on how surreal it was for Othinus to be reading down a list of normal high-school kid activities for the day kept him from noticing the pole he was about to wal-

_*Tong!*_ went the pole (or Touma's skull), as he then for a moment seemed to stick to the obstruction he hit, only for him to slowly slide down and fall back onto the pavement; his body twitching every so often.

"Touma! Are you okay?" Othinus voiced her concern immediately after the fact. She bent over, holding her skirt down, and looked over and on to him to see his face still scrunched in pain as the blood only then began to start flowing away from his face, which seemed to have been where most of the force made contact with. "Geez, I thought you weren't paying attention," she self-affirmed. She then grabbed him by the hand that wasn't holding his school bag and lifted him off the ground with the same ease she had when she had thrown him out of the bathroom. "Come on. Get up." Once Touma was completely on his feet again, Othinus began to question the boy. "So tell me. What's bothering you this time?" She asked like a wife concerned for the umpteenth time over her husband's daily life.

"What's bothering me? What's up with you!? Who are you and what have you done with Othinus!? " Touma decided to get it out of the way now. He didn't care that others were now beginning to stare at the two of them, and with his school now within view, he didn't feel worried about his attendance being in any jeopardy. That was especially so because his attendance was already so abysmal.

The situation in his mind gave warrant to interrogation. "What the hell did you do this time!? Just what's supposed to be up with this world!? Where is everybody!? And why are you going to my High-school!?" He rapid fired his questions such that unless you were a native speaker, it would have sounded completely incomprehensible. Actually even a person who was fluent with the language would have had been distraught to try and understand even a few of the words that had come from Touma's mouth at the pace of the fastest automatic weapon. Othinus made a sigh.

"What are you going on about now? I'm a first year; same as you. I enrolled a few months ago as a transfer student." Othinus' clinical dispatching of facts did nothing to quell Touma's emotional state of distraught. If anything, it only served to further agitate the poor boy with how matter of fact her tone was.

"That doesn't explain why you're living with me! And for that matter where's Index!?" Touma clearly remembered some of the other worlds, and perhaps that was why any changes made were at the forefront of his inquiries His wallet never really liked the nun, but he himself still couldn't stand to live without her. A part of him seemed to never be able to let her go, though the reason why he couldn't recall.

"Don't you remember? You took me in when I had nowhere to go when my previous living arrangements were met with unexpected circumstances shortly after my transfer. If it wasn't for you, I'd probably be dead or something with no one giving a care." To Touma, he had to admit that that would probably be something he might do, except-

"What about Komoe-sensei? She takes in young girls off the street all the time. Why didn't I take you to her?" It's where Aisa had stayed after he saved her, and Touma knew for a fact that Komoe would be more than happy to help a girl out, much less one of her (alleged) students. How would Othinus explain this one?

"Idiot, do I really have to remind you of it out loud in public?" She asked, turning away from Touma as she did so. It hid her expression from him as a result. "Don't you remember that I asked to stay? That you told me that I could stay?" Othinus' voice seemed to tremble in a way though only by the smallest of amplitudes. Its peaks and nadirs only barely audible. This however was completely lost on him, maybe correctly so.

"No! I don't remember any of that! And what's with that super cute shy girl tsundere stuff? It's totally weird when placed in contrast to the Othinus I remember who was trying to kill me over and over again in the most horrifying ways that would make even an 'S' become an 'M'. Also-" whatever Touma was about to say was cut off by the bell ringing in the distance from his school, which meant that there were only a few minutes before classes would begin.

"Idiot! Look what's happened, we're going to be late! Hurry it up!" Othinus then ran towards the school like any other girl that looked her age. Touma was stunned for only a second from being cutoff before chasing after her.

"Dammit! Hey, wait up! I'm not finished yet!"

**Another Try; Version Iota**

Touma, to his own surprise, wasn't surprised to find that Othinus' desk was right behind his own. He was, however, more focused on the world around him, or specifically, the world that Othinus had made. More and more, he grew ever suspicious.

"Yo Touma, why the long face? You and your girlfriend have another fight or something?" Motoharu asked to try and lighten the mood.

"Give him a break; Kami-yan's probably just tired. After all, with a girlfriend like that, I'd be pretty tired too night after night." Peirce's perversion hadn't changed either. Touma couldn't help but think back to the worlds prior where the circumstances had been… different. In fact, the normalcy of the situation was doing nothing but put him off.

"Shut it you vacuous monkey," Othinus tersely replied as she settled down into her seat without losing a beat.

"Oh my, such a violent rebuttal from the lady; Does that mean I hit the nail on the head? Did I? Did I? Hey Kami-yan? Did I get it right? Did you do some 'nailing' of your own?" Touma would have replied, however Motoharu rejoined the fray before Touma even had the chance to open his mouth.

"Touma, we need to know this stuff if we still want to go through with the harem plan, you know? It's nice to get experience points and grind and all on an already conquered level, but you have to tackle the next 'dungeon' at some point." The 'Harem Plan' that Pierce Aogami and Motoharu Tsuchimikado had devised was probably one of the dumbest things that Touma had ever heard come out of the twos' mouths. It also, unfortunately, was one of the widest spreading rumors in the entire school, and as a result, put Touma's already pretty deplorable reputation even further down into the depths. Othinus shot up from her seat, slamming her desk as she rose up.

"Would you two morons give it a rest already? If you two don't shut up about that stupid plan, then I'm going to-" The bell rang to signal the start of class before Othinus was able to finish her possibly very real threat.

"All right class, get in your seats. Othinus-chan, please don't do anything violent today, okay? Can you do it for Sensei?" Komoe-sensei asked as she walked into the classroom. The diminutive adult of 1.35 meters didn't look to be an adult at all, but instead seemed to look like a little girl. Touma wondered just when such a sight seemed to become common place for him.

"Hey!" Othinus, whispered into his ear; a feat made easy thanks to their seating arrangements. "Don't forget about the supermarket sales today."

"Othinus-chan, Touma, please refrain from having your love-love talks in the middle of class." Komoe-sensei's tone would usually hold a level of contempt that Touma couldn't quite understand when anything involving him and other girls was involved. However this time, her tone was quite professional and distant, like any other teacher.

"Yes, Sensei." The two of them said in unison, a feat that could have only been accomplished in the presence of their petite teacher. Inwardly however, Touma was cursing his bad luck…

"Such misfortune…" Or verbalizing it…

**Another Try; Version Iota**

"So what do you think? Should we go with curry tonight, or do you want a hamburger steak?" Othinus laid out their dinner options. Touma didn't know what to expect honestly, though saying Nordic dishes didn't cross his mind (or the idea of which since he didn't know any), would be a lie. The two of them were on their way to the super market, having left their school as soon as it let out, for more than the initial reason. The sun was already starting to set, though it hadn't gotten too far down.

"Curry, we already have some of the ingredients at home." Touma was starting to get used to her presence, though he had yet to completely let his guard down around her.

"I suppose that choice wouldn't be bad. It's at least healthier than the hamburger steak." Othinus let out a sigh and turned towards Touma. Though he expected her to say something, she expectantly stayed silent.

"What is it?" Touma asked Othinus, a bit confused by what was happening.

"Nothing." She shook her head a couple of times, which made her hair go every which way. After it settled back into place she told him that it was, "Nothing at all."

"You know, you're surprisingly normal like this," Touma let out straight from his thoughts.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Othinus didn't seem to take the comment too well as they turned in to the park as a shortcut.

"Well I just thought that even you can be a normal girl too- Ow!" Othinus hit the boy over the head without losing her stride. The girl was about to let something out but had noticed that her present company had not followed her for the past couple of steps, and not because of the fact that she had hit him. Turning around, she saw Touma standing blankly still… in front of a normal vending machine. There wasn't anything special about it here.

"Touma, what's wrong?" She asked, though her tone wasn't so much questioning as it was to try and get his attention.

"No dents…" he said at barely a whisper.

"Why would there be?" Othinus asked, having surprisingly heard him… though perhaps it shouldn't have been.

"Nothing." Touma said, lightly shaking his head, but to his surprise, as soon as he said so, he felt his left hand become enclosed in someone else's in a tight embrace. Turning around, it probably shouldn't have come to him as a surprise that the one who held his hand was Othinus. However it still did despite what Occam's Razor should have told him immediately.

Othinus seemed to have shrunk in the small moment that he wasn't looking at her. She seemed downcast, her gaze focused downwards to match. Though her hair obscured them, her eye that wasn't covered by the patch seemed to try and look at him, but would then avert itself almost immediately upon making even the smallest amount of contact with his own. Touma then noticed that she was a bit bent over, which is probably why she seemed to shrink as well. Her meek posture also lent to an illusion of her hair having become even longer as it hung over her sullenly as if drenched in downpour.

"Come on. L-let's go!" The words left her mouth hastily and without support; airy and rasped. Touma noticed that her hand was also… trembling. Its strong grip on his own only made the movement more noticeable, and it tightened even harder around his own left hand as she then began to pull on him. "The sale is going to be taken up by other people. Come on!"

Touma offered no resistance, being pulled lankily along. He couldn't think of a reason to put up any. The air between them lay silent the whole time until they got to the market. Even there it wasn't they who made noise…

**Another Try; Version Iota**

Silence had followed them even home. The curry that Othinus made was surprisingly good. Touma thought to himself that it was strange that the Magic God had any time, or would devote any time at all for that matter, to learn how to cook what he would assume Othinus to think of as a plebian dish. He didn't ask though as even he could tell that the current atmosphere probably made it inappropriate to do so. The entire meal was made even more awkward by the fact that not only was it eaten in complete silence, where neither of them even asked the other to pass anything, but also that Othinus seemed hesitant to even look at Touma. This fact was made obvious, even to him, as he saw Othinus try desperately to remedy this by trying to start even a semblance of a conversation or even to just even look him in the eye with her own, but she would back down before she would even start.

_*Ring Ring*_ Touma's cell phone rang with an abnormal acuity thanks to the prior silence. The result of such made both Othinus and Touma jump with a start leaving the both of them somewhat disoriented. Touma quickly recovered though as he hastily reached into his pocket with an awkwardness that was brought about by his nervousness and embarrassment. He fumbled the phone a bit as he brought it up to view, a sight that made Othinus just as nervous, before finally opening it up to find out who the caller was. Apparently, Motoharu wanted something this evening.

"It's Motoharu," Touma said as if he was reading a random article in the newspaper before taking the call and putting the phone up to his ear without hearing what Othinus had to say.

"Yo! Touma, do you mind coming down to the convenience store for a sec? You know the one that's near our school? Peirce and I got something to talk about and we need you here." Touma felt both relieved and exasperated from hearing that; relieved that it sounded pretty normal, and exasperated because having to go out like that in the middle of dinner was a bit of a pain.

"Just tell them no. It's probably something stupid anyways." Touma's eyes quickly shifted towards Othinus, who only made a comment now after so many hours of silence. She still wasn't looking directly at him, her own gaze focused mostly on eating, but he could see that on the occasion, her eye would for a moment look up to glance at him before almost immediately moving back.

"I'll see you there, just give me a moment," Touma replied, completely ignoring Othinus' suggestion.

"Cool, I'll see you there then." Motoharu hung up without another word. Touma then put his phone onto the table, the effort of putting it in his pocket being too much work. He sighed as he got up, leaving his own plate behind while still holding his phone. It probably was something stupid honestly, but he needed a reason, any reason, to go out. He needed to see more.

"…Where are you going?" Othinus asked weakly, not having moved from her spot in the slightest.

"To see some friends of mine." It wasn't a lie.

"You should have just told them no." Othinus went largely ignored as Touma had already got his shoes on and placed a hand on the door.

"…" Touma said nothing, and walked out. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong, and he needed to find out what, starting with his friends.

**Another Try; Version Iota**

"Yo, you're here Kami-yan!"

"So he is, and a little bit late for that matter." Peirce and Motoharu teased Touma as he took an open stool that was next to them. The convenience store's tables were luckily pretty empty.

"Yeah, yeah. So what is it you wanted to talk about?" Touma's mood wasn't exactly the brightest that it could be at the moment.

"The two of us just wanted to get you away from your girlfriend for a sec to talk about the Harem Plan, Kami-yan." Peirce said frankly as if the name 'Harem Plan' was as mundane as 'orange' or 'sky'.

"Will you two quit it with that already? It's not going to happen." Touma said, his head beginning to hang downwards.

"Actually yeah, here's the thing Touma. With how things are going, even we don't think this plan's going to work." Touma's eyes flew open from hearing Motoharu speak. He whipped his head towards the other two.

"Huh?" Touma let out. "It was you two who came up with that stupid plan in the first place and kept bringning it up every chance you got, and after all that, now you want to give up on it!?" Touma didn't know whether to be relieved or frightened. The two of them were quite adamant about the success of the plan. They were both dead set on Touma achieving some poorly conceived notion of a man's dream. To see them give up on it was like seeing a dog giving up playing fetch.

"Yeah, but I mean, with the fact that you've been with Othinus since she transferred in, and that the two of you have been pretty much stuck together like you've been joined at the hip, we figured that as it stands, it'd be impossible to add more now." Motoharu was speaking of a scenario that Touma wished to actively deny both from the scene itself and from the fact that Touma had no recollection of it whatsoever.

"That's pretty much all we wanted to tell you Kami-yan: the plan's kaput. We're pulling out. You should be grateful. Now you and Othinus can be together without obstruction, or something like that." Now Peirce was saying the same thing. Touma couldn't believe it. He always wanted them to stop, always wished it would stop, but there was something wrong. There was something so fundamentally wrong with how it was happening that Touma couldn't believe it. It left him stunned like a deer in headlights.

"Well we didn't want to keep you here too long. See ya tomorrow Kami-yan!" and with that Peirce got up from his seat and waited for Motoharu to do the same before setting off.

"Don't stay up too late or else Sensei will get mad again tomorrow." Motoharu waited for Peirce to start moving before he too started walking away. Touma had to ask now.

"Motoharu!" Touma yelled from his seat, swiveled to see them off, before he got too far away. "You know who Othinus is right?" He asked almost pleadingly, this hope almost snuffed out.

"What do you mean? She's just our classmate right?" Motoharu was known to lie, Touma knew much to his ire. This time however there wasn't any sign of facetiousness here. Motoharu didn't leave a single hint, a dash of sarcasm, or even the tiniest bit of smugness that generally pervaded when Touma apparently asked a stupid question. Motoharu doesn't know who Othinus really is. "If you're worried, I'm not interested. Remember my little sister? Hahaha. Well anyways, take care of yourself and Othinus." Motoharu and Peirce walked out of the store.

Touma could only guess when they did by the sound of the chime from the door sliding open as his head looked down at the empty table top in front of him.

**Another Try; Version Iota**

Touma walked through the streets paying only enough attention so that he wasn't entirely aimless, though he still couldn't tell completely where he was going. It was night now in Academy City. Though everywhere around him there was something going on, he didn't pay the smallest heed. Instead he focused inwardly. Things weren't adding up. For the most part, almost nothing was different from the world he remembered as his own. No one was trying to kill him. He had a place in this world. There wasn't anything completely wrong with this world, but that served to make what was wrong only stand out more. Just what was Othinus trying to do to him this time?

"Hey girl, it's a little late right now. How about you hang with us today? What do you say?" Touma turned his head towards the noise. "We can take you home, though we don't know when. Hahahahaha!" A bunch of guys seemed to be crowded around a single spot. Touma wasn't the only who noticed this, but he was the only one who was looking directly at what was happening. Everyone else deigned to simply ignore it and tried to get away as fast as possible while attracting as little attention as they could.

Touma didn't know why, but for some reason, a hope so infinitesimally small sparked for just a moment in his heart. He looked harder at the scene, trying to see what poor girl had managed to get corralled into their circle. Despite himself, he felt disappointed. Was it because of who it was or wasn't? Or, was it in himself? Either way it didn't change who he saw: Othinus, her expression being that of apathy; as if she were looking at ants. Touma was more than familiar with that expression. It reminded him of far too much, and yet despite that, or maybe because of something else, he still took a step forward.

"Found you! I was looking all over for you. So this is where you were." Touma walked right in, paying no attention to the delinquents. The smile he wore on his face was used to both hide his fears and to trick them with an unexpected momentum. Taking Othinus' hand, Touma continued. "That's no good, letting go all of a sudden." Nervously, he then turned around without looking too closely at Othinus and immediately tried to walk right out with her in tow. Had he paid attention, he would have noticed Othinus' expression of surprise... and embarrassment.

There wasn't anything really special about what Touma did in the grand scheme of things. Perhaps it was out of the ordinary, but that still doesn't mean special. These concupiscent dogs weren't even worth the attention of an ant. She would have had zero difficulty in dealing with them, but even so. Something swelled within her breast, to see Touma break through the crowd. That moment, he seemed to stand out more than anyone else, more than anyone else ever did; more than anyone else ever would. That something seemed to choke her as she began to fully register the warmth of his hand wrapped so carefully around hers. In the tiniest recess of her mind that she refused to admit a part of her thought: for these moments…

"Thanks for taking care of her for me while I wasn't looking. Can you let us through?" Touma said, though a twinge of desperation was present.

The spark that lingered in his heart seemed to propagate an anticipation of what was to come. However what followed was a betrayal of those expectations. Othinus didn't say a word as the delinquents quietly parted ways to let the two through. Though annoyance seemed to be the general feeling amongst them, they simply said nothing and gave up. Everyone else that was watching also refrained from speaking, rapt by the scene before them. That spark was dying in some way from the hushed atmosphere that poignantly placed itself between the two as they walked. Something was wrong.

Once Touma felt that the two of them had made it far enough away from the group, he stopped next to an open bench that was on the sidewalk. He felt his hand become squeezed for the second time that day. As if prompted, he finally turned back, and he faced Othinus... to see if she was okay; her face was flushed and her eye scrunched up a bit. She still seemed to be thinking of something. To Touma, her thoughts and feelings were a complete mystery. Though he was surprised when she did tell him this.

"Thanks…" she let out, though it could only barely be heard over the crowds that passed on by. Touma didn't know what to do. He expected a different answer… He thought she was going to deride him in some way, to rebuke his actions. He quickly turned away, but in the midst of it, noticed what they were next to.

"Hey, Othinus." The girl looked at him more sharply after hearing her name… she didn't know why she paid so much attention to someone just calling her name. "Are you a bit hungry?" He said with a stupid grin on his face as he pointed with his thumb towards the family restaurant they were in front of.

**Another Try; Version Iota**

It was a fairly popular restaurant. It had to be at least that much if it wanted to survive here in Academy City, let alone the food industry. The two of them were seated at one of the window seats, menus placed in their hands as they perused the selection that the restaurant offered. Despite the late hour, there was still a decent amount of business.

"Here you go; one water with lemon, and one without. Are you two ready to order?" The waitress asked. Just like most of Academy City's population, she was most likely a student. She didn't have to wait very long for a reply to her question.

"A large fruit parfait." Othinus' choice seemed to be almost typical, but Touma was thankful that her order wasn't going to put too large a strain on his wallet.

"Turkey sandwich for me, please." He wasn't terribly hungry, but he still wanted to eat something, and he could luckily afford it more easily than before thanks to his current company. He almost wanted to cry tears of joy from knowing that his wallet would still have money in it after the meal. Though he still had something to address. The waitress took their orders with a smile and left with their now moot menus. It was just the two of them now. Nobody else in the restaurant cared about them.

"So what were you doing out?" Touma asked in order to get something going; anything going.

"I could ask the same about you. You just walked out on me without telling me anything," Othinus admonished him. "I know how reckless you get when I'm not looking." Touma began to nervously avert his eyes at the mention of his usually foolish behavior. "Look at me when I talking to you," she (rightfully) demanded, though it sounded more weak and childish than it should. "And worst of all is that you never finished the curry I made. I-" Othinus stopped herself from continuing on. Touma didn't seem to take notice of Othinus' sudden stop, attributing it to a slip of the tongue. He was still worried however as he did notice that Othinus' voice began to rasp as if on the onset of crying; her face reddened and her eye gained an uncommon glossy sheen.

"Idiot," Touma called her. Othinus snapped out of whatever it was she was falling into and looked at the boy, dumbfounded by his insensitive response. "You're the one who got into trouble, getting caught by that gang and all. I mean do you really have the right to think of me getting in trouble when it was the other way around this time? Although actually, I feel sorrier for those guys who caught such an unlikable, underdeveloped girl for her age tha- Oomph!" Touma's head was slammed into the table; not at enough force to leave any sort of mark, but just enough to hurt him. Othinus sat back down in her seat after exacting her divine wrath; all manner of emotion from the previous scene completely gone.

"Why do I get so worked up over an idiot like you…" she said as she settled back in, her voice more exasperated than pissed or annoyed.

"Oi! What was that for!?" Touma asked almost the very second he recovered.

"What do you think!?" Othinus just as fiercely retorted.

"Well how am I supposed to know!?" Touma asked as he stood up in his seat.

"How in the world is it that you don't know!?" Othinus asked as she too stood to meet him, in half annoyance and half disbelief.

"I don't! And why is it expected!?" Touma asked her with an unbelievable level of honesty.

"And this is why I hate dullards like you. I should have hit you harder when I had the chance." Othinus gave up and slumped back into her seat wondering just what it is about this utter buffoon that has her so… so…

"Hehehe… " Touma let out softly as Othinus looked up at him, confused even further than before. "Yeah, you're much easier to deal with like this; the two of us not getting along so well." His smirk was as idiotic as his remark. Othinus could only let out an even more flabbergasted-

"Huh?" As she continued to look at Touma as if he'd lost his mind. She was… surprised.

"Well it's just that you've been acting weird this whole time, as if you were some troubled heroine, but if you can get as heated as that, then I suppose you're fine. I was a bit worried there for a moment." Touma's response lacked any sense of delicacy. Almost anyone with social experience would have been able to tell as much. However, to Othinus, a single line stood out from the rest. A feeling that he let her know that he had. He was worried about her.

More than anything else that day, it struck that something within her being. That feeling from before that swelled within her seemed to grow even larger despite it having nearly disappeared after their heated bickering. It paralyzed her, holding her by her own self. Her own response, for better and worse, was the same as many other girls.

"Idiot," she said quietly, though a part lamented that she could only insult him… what part? Regardless, her lips almost seemed to curve upward… almost.

"Right, right…" Touma said, relaxing into his seat.

"Um… here are your orders…?" The waitress told them, wary because of the loud noise the two of them let out just a few moments earlier.

"Ah, sorry, sorry," Touma told the waitress nervously. Though like how they entered, the two ate quietly, but the air was easier to breath than before. It could even have been called a 'good mood'. Othinus perhaps was the only one to take notice… she relished the moment, the feeling of which didn't come from eating her parfait.

**Another Try; Version Iota**

Because it would be faster, the two decided to take the route that would pass by their school on the way home. The only light now was of course the ones that fell from the street lamps, and the streets themselves were completely empty, leaving the two in a dead silence that one wouldn't expect from a city of this size. Touma though, was used to the environment, thanks to his many asinine excursions out at night, or at the very least what used to be his many excursions.

The two walked almost side by side, with Touma taking a slight lead over Othinus. The position allowed for the natural concealment of Touma's face as he tried one more time to piece together the day's events before the night was over. Even though Othinus didn't seem to be dangerous anymore, Touma knew better than to just let things go when there were so many questions left unanswered. A thought had occurred to him that if he didn't figure out things soon, he may never be able to. He then immediately dismissed such thoughts as paranoia, but they lingered just enough to impel him further. He had to understand just what was going on. He still had things he had to do.

If he had to start anywhere in his recollections, it would be with Othinus herself. Out of everything in this version of the world, she was the first person to not only appear in front of him, but also to appear with drastic changes to her personality. Nothing about this Othinus seemed to resemble in any capacity the one he remembered as the Magic God, save for her more abrasive personality traits, though those seemed to be more toned down. They were so toned down in fact that even if those traits were magnified by a factor of three, the current Othinus would still seem like a docile kitten compared to the omnipotent god from before this entire world started. This Othinus seemed to be, for all that mattered, a normal high school girl. There was no point in questioning what, in the end, the changes were in full detail. The more pertinent question that still remained though, and that he was left to ask would be: why?

Why did she change herself to being someone who wouldn't be out of place being with Touma in a normal everyday setting? What purpose did it really serve if the original purpose of the worlds crafted by her were made to break his mind and spirit? What could she gain from this world? Touma's mind couldn't even conceive of a plausible explanation that could fit everyone one of those criteria. The original purpose of these worlds was to break him, but this world seems to have been made more with the purpose of just annoying him from that perspective. However, to blend into his everyday life? Again, the most it would do to him would be just giving him another mouth to feed, if the other mouth wasn't simply gone. And lastly it doesn't seem like there would be anything for Othinus to gain that she couldn't already get as a Magic God… at least he thought as much right now.

… Feeling as if he'd exhausted that avenue of thought, even after having laid out as much as he could remember about Othinus, he decided that maybe he should concentrate on what other changes she had made. In that case, the next of the changes that stood out was that Index didn't live with him anymore, and he hadn't seen even a single little spark of Misaka. Along with those, the Harem Plan was dismissed by the very organizers of the plan… oh and he didn't remember seeing Aisa at all… though he sighed inwardly when he realized that maybe that was because he simply didn't pay any attention to whether or not she was in class… Misaka… he felt like he was missing something very important there… like something was supposed to happen but didn't. He didn't have time to dwell on the things he couldn't remember though as they were beginning to near the bridge that lay in the middle of the city. Just as he noticed, that now familiar hand once again took hold of his. Looking over he saw Othinus walking more in step with himself while staring off to the side, preventing eye contact.

"It's getting dark, and the bridge doesn't have many lights on it." Othinus' voice might have been soft, but because it was the only other sound besides their own echoing footsteps, it resounded with clarity in the empty night. Touma didn't reply as he only nodded in acknowledgement over the gesture to not arouse suspicion. He turned away, hoping that Othinus wouldn't notice him so he could continue to postulate about the world without interference.

So in this world, his mind continued, the people who were missing were for the most part, the girls he had known before. None of them were making an appearance. The same could be said in general for all of those that were major players in the many incidents involving the more dangerous aspects of either side of the spectrum; science or magic. Any sign or indication that these may have happened were nowhere to be found. While of course certain people remained such as Komoe-sensei, and his friends, the crux was that anyone who could have been safely removed from his view and not have too much an effect on it were removed… If this is the case, then that simply leaves even more questions. Touma hit another mental brick wall as his mind couldn't begin to understand just what the point of this world is. The changes that were made seemed to be completely arbitrary and the only major addition; the only addition… was Othinus… Touma let go of Othinus' hand at that moment, and stopped walking while the two of them were well onto the middle of the bridge. Othinus was admittedly caught off guard, and her own arm tugged at her body as her hand continued to hold on to Touma's as if she were pulling on a handcuff. The force of such led to the two's separation. Othinus turned almost the moment her hand let go of his. What she found was Touma staring blankly off into the distance, as if distracted... no, very distracted.

"Touma?" she called the boy as she cautiously inched her way over to where her roommate stood, carefully observing him to see if she could discern what could have caused him to suddenly stop. A remnant perhaps, but she couldn't help but feel perplexed about just what simple thought could have stalled his mind. As she neared him again to the point where she could touch him, his eyes seemed to snap towards her and gained a newfound clarity that they seemed to lack the entire day.

"Say Othinus, do you mind if I ask a question?" Touma asked her as their eyes met, his face, she noticed, becoming more serious and focused. She almost felt as if she was being looked upon with accusatory scrutiny. She might have laughed just a bit the previous few times, but for some reason the feeling of doing so or even a single iota of amusement wouldn't sprout from her heart. Now she felt something different grow from her breast as she felt the ever burning gaze of the one in front of her. There wasn't any malice in the tone of his voice, nor even the gaze. However even so, Othinus couldn't help but perhaps respect in some manner the person who was looking at her… though respect born from what?

"I suppose you can…" Despite giving him her already reluctant permission, a force within her wished that she hadn't given him even that. Touma took in a deep breath after hearing her reply. Othinus did the same, but she instead did it instinctually as if to brace herself.

"So just what is it that you're trying to show me in this world?" He finally asked. He was beginning to see a pattern in the changes. He just didn't understand why. He decided to ask her directly, hoping that he would be given an answer. Perhaps her ego would be large enough that he could take advantage of it to finally learn the final pieces to the puzzle. Touma, in this instance, made a mistake. Othinus froze under the question, though not for long as she soon began to fidget abnormally. Was it an act, or was it real? She seemed to almost say something for a moment, but a sound wouldn't come out. She tried a second, and then a third time, before something seemed to snap. The answer, it would seem, was act. Othinus' demeanor regained a regality it lacked for the entire day. Her posture straightened and her face became like that of stone. All of this seemed to come too quickly, but she then spoke in even tones.

"I'm not surprised that it would take this long for someone like you to figure out something so simple." Othinus turned and walked away as her clothes seemed to fade like static out of existence to reveal her previous attire made of strips of strategically placed cloth; her witch's hat being the first to materialize. "Though I suppose that if you figured it out, there is no need for me to continue to craft this template."

"Continue?" Touma's mind raced as his body began to ready itself; his right hand clenched into a fist.

"I suppose that from your point of view it may have seemed as if this was the first time this had happened. I suppose multiple traumatic wounds over the course of time would damage memory storage in some way. It would prevent you from remembering the more mundane instances," Othinus spoke as if she were speaking to an ant.

"Well aren't you chatty today," Touma noted as this was the first time he had heard her explain things in such great detail.

"Well you asked me to explain. I just decided to oblige your request." Othinus then materialized her spear, the sight of which put Touma completely into battle ready stance.

"You still haven't explained why you would make a world where the girls I've met aren't around," Touma pointed out cautiously, more focused on her suddenly attacking rather than the answer he asked for.

"Do I really have to explain it to you. Your skull is much thicker than I remember it being when I crushed it last time," Othinus' said to him with a tired tone. "I don't feel like it."

"Why so apprehensive now when you were on a roll? Or is there something your hiding from me that you don't want explained?" Touma goaded her, hoping that it would buy some time or irritate her in some way.

"Of course not!" Othinus yelled, her pitch almost shrilling to Touma's surprise. Othinus seemed to realize it by the look of angry embarrassment on her face. She then spoke with a calmer tone. "It's just that you're addled mind couldn't even begin to comprehend the explanation, even if I were to spend a millennia trying to make you understand." She let out a huge sigh before ending with, "And besides, as I said before, now that you've managed to come this far, there isn't a reason left to continue using this template."

"He-hey! Are you alright?" Touma asked to Othinus' surprise.

"What are you going on about now?" She asked as she began to raise her spear skyward. Touma did nothing but point to towards his cheek, to which Othinus quickly followed by placing a hand on her own adjacent cheek. It was wet.

"Even I can tell something's wrong with a girl when that happens," Touma said, his guard somewhat down. Othinus didn't hear him however, still too surprised at what was happening; she was crying. She shouldn't have been affected by anything in this world. She shouldn't feel anything for it, so why does she feel… sad? In frustration, she rubbed her tears away, trying to get rid of them as fast as she could, trying to eliminate any sign of her emotions. She then heard a bit of soft laughter coming from her enemy before he then let out another comment. "I guess that today's act didn't come from nothing. I guess even like this you're pretty normal too."

"Quiet!" She commanded him, but to no effect as Touma wasn't moved by her voice. She wouldn't accept that she was affected in some way from all the times she played house. She couldn't accept that in some way these moments wormed their way into her heart like termites into a home. It shouldn't be possible for someone like him to truly affect a magic god… and yet her heart was screaming otherwise, and no matter how hard she tried, her cheeks wouldn't dry whenever she thought to end this for the last time. Did… did that mean… she didn't want this to be the last time? Did she want to do today again?

"If it's like this, maybe we can just talk it out?" Touma earnestly suggested. His face gave way to small smile. It most likely did not really mean anything but the moment she saw it, her heart lightened and the pain in her breast seemed to evanesce. In that moment when she both felt and realized just what it was that was there, something had to break.

"I said QUIET! I'm tired of this. I'm ending this now!" She cried with her spear stabbing the sky. She had to end this now before things got too out of hand.

"Hey hold on! I jus-"

**Another Try; Version Iota**

Bloodied and beaten; again the sight filled her eyes nearly unchanged save for the few inches that strayed, but it did nothing to sway her outward demeanor towards any particular emotion. White fills the plane again bringing things through another shift. Countless worlds, she had given up the game of keeping track as it had come to bore, and even irritate her more than amuse as it once did. Something was beginning to ache. The boy was now claiming, at least in the few moments he could, that their constant struggles, and endless battles were colluding to bring her mind to tire and fatigue. Preposterous and presumptuous were Othinus' immediate thoughts on such claims. Yet she couldn't deny that she tired of seeing his body destroyed in endless cycles while his mind and spirit continued on unperturbed. As the total conflict continued to draw out, her aim was slowing, and her hands felt heavier as they moved to fire. There was nothing physical holding her down though, and she wasn't fatigued either.

She would watch the boy struggle through more worlds, and come to face her at the end. However the forefront of her mind was no longer taken with the act of breaking him down; those thoughts left her a long time ago, or what felt as if a long time ago. Touma had for once managed to see through the ruse she placed of having herself as the only girl amongst the lot of them to have come close to him; to be with him. Why did she do it though? The answer, she felt, must have been on the tip of her tongue, and it didn't present a challenge or require any large effort to come to logical conclusions as to why she did it. Perhaps it was a way of learning more about him to better improve her method of attack. It might instead have been an act to lower his guard. There was also the possibility that it was done to weaken his resolve or something else. It wouldn't have been out of the question to have used that world to seduce him, and render him impotent towards her goals, trapping him with his own heart. She must have had an initial reason, she herself knew that she wasn't so callous an individual who would just on a whim make such a pointless world… the thought of the worlds she crafted using that template being pointless: repulsion, denial. The internal rebuke came almost immediately as she realized that the battle was over again. The world flashed to white, and she, with a mechanical weariness, redid the cycle over and over again. The sound of Touma's voice even beginning to blur as the shifts came one after the other in rapid succession. More worlds, more talking, more killing, more drivel.

More flashes of white, more red, more battles, more pain, more, more, more, more, more, and more! And after that was more, and more, and more, and more! AND MORE!

"NO MORE!" a single cry let out in the seemingly endless cycle, almost as if a physical break in the fabric of what one could call reality split itself apart from that desperate plea.

Her view flashed from a gory red to pure white as if nothing had changed before refilling with a sight she'd seen before: a dorm room, his dorm room. She was standing in front of the stove, wearing that detestable Japanese school uniform; an apron adorned with the splashes of water and oil. She blinked twice, she had made this world again. Was it instinct? She didn't mean to do so again, she decided that that last time would be the final time. Her breathing quickened as her eyes darted around to confirm again what it was she saw. There was no mistake, even if… actually she didn't feel like this was a mistake in any sense, no matter how much she wanted to deny it. She, as if in a daze, walked away from the kitchen, throwing her apron off onto the floor, and towards the dorm's singular bed. Its original owner however was nowhere to be found on it. It took her a few seconds longer to realize as much.

It almost didn't feel real. Though things haven't felt real for her for a very long amount of time. She turned around towards the other door besides the entrance and miniscule terrace; the bathroom door. Silently, she took slow, deliberate steps towards it as if any harsh or heavy movement would ruin everything, shattering it all as if it were stained glass. The sounds of her feet as they left and met with the floor again and again weighed heavier and heavier as she approached the simple door. She'd seen it many times, and she had opened just as many, there shouldn't have been anything special about it. She reached out her hand towards the handle as she got within distance, but she stopped just right before touching it; hesitation.

Why was she letting this world persist? She should just end it preemptively and simply start over properly. Why? Why was she so enamored to open this one door? What should she do? Why should she do any of this? There were only two things she could do… It only took a second for her to come to a decision. She, for the first time in a long while, in her heart, fully, truly believed that this was the right choice; what she wanted for now.

"This would be _the_ last time; just one more try," she whispered to herself. She didn't want to ruin the surprise as well as the look on his face for when she opened the door. She placed her hand on the handle, and turned it just a little faster than normal.

"Touma, breakfast is ready!"

* * *

Author's Notes: Not my best, but I wanted to give it a (one) shot. NT Volume 9 quickly shot up as one of my favorite volumes for the series. Not just because it's perhaps the most interesting one in concept, or that it starts with the villain already having won, but also because it goes more into Touma's own personality and development as a character; something that really has never been done for him at all up until that point. Before that, he was a pretty static character that pretty much approached all his problems in the same manner, following his gut and punching things. Granted I am generalizing his modus operandi but the description is still apt despite it being laconic. I will say that I can forgive the unchanging attitude if only because it fits Imagine Breaker's power as being a static origin point. I've always liked stuff like that where a person's personality is somewhat reflective of their powers but in a more subtle way; like Reimu's power to float and her personality of being distant and something of a cloudcuckoolander. In general the whole exploration of his driving force as well as just who was he doing anything for, as well as displaying actual human like personality for once was something refreshing that I found enjoyable to read.

I'm getting a bit off topic there though. The actual one-shot itself was something I toyed with for a while but thought was perhaps a tad too obvious. I mean it's something that someone must have thought of at some point, but to my surprise, very few were capitalizing on the concept. So I took to heart the advice I heard long ago of "Why wait on someone else to do it if you could do it?" to heart again and decided to see what I could do with this (I suggest the same of anyone). I hope it turned out well as I had been agonizing it for over the past month out of trying something different from what I'd done before.

I suppose there's nothing left to do, but wait for the responses and see what I can improve on and work on for my future works. If you found anything that didn't seem right or didn't seem to be good enough, leave a review and tell me as best you can.

Well, thanks for reading, and have a great day!


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